The possibility of using algae for the production of fuel and chemicals has attracted the interest of researchers, government and business for many years. Efforts to commercialize the production of fuel from algae using closed photobioreactors have brought to light problems that must be solved to improve the performance of photobioreactors and make the production of biofuels practical.
Various approaches to photobioreactors are the subject of, for example, U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2011/0151507; U.S. Pat. No. 8,304,209; WO/2005/121309; WO/2010/068288; U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,417; WO/2007/098150; WO/2013/133481; U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2008/0160591; U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2010/0285575; WO/2009/040383; and Christenson et al., “Production and harvesting of microalgae for wastewater treatment, biofuels, and bioproducts” Biotechnology Advances 29 (2011) 686-702.
An ongoing need exists for photobioreactors, systems and methods that provide, for example, increased volumetric product yields.